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welcome to the forums @Joluna!

thank you for sharing, and i'm so sorry to hear how hard this has been for you. i can see how not getting support from your siblings can make it feel heavier and more isolating. you're not alone here, we're here for you.

i don't have much knowledge around this area but i know other members on the forums will! i'm going to tag a few members and see if they can provide some tips and advice 🙂

it's nice having you here.

@Appleblossom @RiverSeal @Alittleorange

@Joluna its good the situation didn’t escalate.

Both my parents had the schizophrenia diagnosis. It can be hard yakka. It is a tricky reversal of duty of care.

Maybe you can put boundaries up re letting them get involved in your adult activities. Put limits on how much you are in caring role, so you have some freedom and capacity to make a life for yourself.

paranoia and rigid fixed beliefs can be difficult to negotiate. Also the development over the life cycle. My mother was not on medication and in denial and very rigid and thought she was perfect. It is hard to argue , but try and keep your eyes on your future.

@Joluna

Hi I just wanted to say welcome to the forums. I don't have any experience with dealing with schizophrenia. It sounds like you are in a very difficult position. I hope that some others here will be able to give you something more helpful. Until then do try and take care of yourself and maybe try and set some boundaries.

Hello Joshua,

you are not in an enviable position.

I am a parent with a history of schizophrenia, and was once married to a lady with bipolar depression. Why is she important, we will get there.

Firstly my schizophrenia did, and to a lesser extent does, involve paranoia although I take medication and it lessens the effect considerably. However my schizophrenia affected my mind to such an extent that there was no way I could deny it, and the issue was actually having it identified and navigating the mental health system which initially seemed as vexing as schizophrenia.

The medication works, however somebody needs to think they have an issue before they will use it and this is your problem. I am not an expert on getting people to take medication, I am sure there are strategies that people in places like SANE forums have, and you were right to come here because they do care and can help.

You need to rant, blow off steam and be able to do it in an understanding environment, and this I think is that. Mental health issues can flow from one to another, my once wife with bipolar was so distressed it was nearly as ruinous to me as the schizophrenia, however she too over time found her way thanks to medication.

I am aware of some of the banter by some who are anti medication; side effects, life expectancy and possibly other things, and perhaps this is the cause of some trepidation in your parent. While there are some truths to the banter the beneficial effects of medication outweigh the negatives. All I can do at this juncture is hope you can get your parent to open their eyes, see that they are impaired and from there see even a GP at first which is what I did opening other doors to a remedy.

Have you had discussions like this with your parent? If so where did they lead, if not perhaps try that in the first instance.

Best of luck

Alittleorange

@rav3n @Appleblossom

Hey @Joluna thanks for sharing your experienecs with the community!

Sounds like you go through a tough time with your parent who is diagnosed with schizophrenia. It's really brave to reach out to your peers here on the Forums and be vulnerable.

I also share the same diagnoses as your parent and can understand their paranoia and behaviours but hear your challenages with them too. I don't have the lived experience of being a carer so I hope the community can provide that insight for you. It sounds like you did a good job of managing the situation as best as you could.

People with schizophrenia often don't believe that they have a mental health condition and it is a choice of there's whether they seek support and take medications. Familiy can plant seeds about how their behaviour impacts them and what it looks like in public or at home. It's import and that the person wants to change or accept their situation like that old saying "you can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink"

We have a thread for hearing voices and psychosis if you would like to check that here: https://saneforums.org/t5/Our-stories/Hearing-voices-and-psychosis-%EF%B8%8F/td-p/1682014

Thanks again for sharing your experiences and I encourage you to continue to reach out to the community!

Take care

RiverSeal